Dementor
|Lifespan=Amortal |Ministry of Magic Classification=Non-being |Extinction= }} A 'Dementor '(pl. Dementors) was a Dark non-being that fed on human happiness and made them feel sadness and despair when in proximity of them. They may consume a person's soul with the Dementor's Kiss which left the victim in a vegetative state which makes them an empty shell, from which they would not survive for long. They originated from Azkaban and would later be employed by the Ministry of Magic in an effort to control them. They guarded Azkaban for many years, but eventually joined Voldemort in the Second Wizarding War. They would later not be employed by the government again. The Patronus Charm was one such known form of defence from Dementors, and chocolate would help survivors overcome the Dementor's Kiss. They supported whomever would provide them with better chances to feed, but their numbers may be limited when they no longer have the conditions needed to survive. Appearance Dementors would be found cloaked in a black fabric with a hood over it's face. Underneath the cloak, they had hands that looked decayed from water, gray and peeling skin. They glided along the floor and they possessed a towering height. They do not have any sight, being completely blind and they hunt by sensing emotions. Personal character Dementors feed on happy memories which they suck out along with the soul of the victim, by which point they put in place of the happy memory, a sad memory which they may make the victim hear once again. Being blind, they sense for complex emotions which may be good or bad. They could never be fooled by tricks or disguises, or even an Invisibility Cloak but it would be later be found that it was possible for the Animagi to fool them because they don't appear to have complex human emotions when in the form of an animal. However, when around them for extended amounts of time, they would begin to drive people crazy, by which point it also made the Dementors less keen on them because they could no longer sense them in the same way - they simply had less to feed on. Dementors have no concept of pleading or excuses, and would feed on anyone who gives them any meaning to harm them. When in proximity of the Dementor, the environment became very dark and ice cold. The people around them would suddenly feel a sadness that intense, they had a feeling they would never be happy again. Dementor's Kiss When the Dementor's Kiss began, the victims would feel an intense cold that went deeper and deeper in their skin towards their very heart. It gave them the feeling of drowning in cold water that went even in their ears and made them feel the Dementor was dragging them down. Then the sound of roaring would get louder and louder, their eyes would go to the back of their head and victim would become rigid and then begin twitching when they fall. They would then begin to hear a bad memory in place of the happy memory the Dementor was feeding on. However, if they have had a good life and a powerful bad memory was not found, then they would be shown their true colours. They would then eventually pass out. If not saved in time through the Patronus Charm or other means, their complete soul would be sucked from their body and they would be left an empty shell from which they would never be able to be brought back. Following the Dementor's Kiss, the survivors would would feel weak and shivery. The Patronus Charm was capable of fending off Dementors when one manages to think of single, powerful happy memory. History Origins The exact beginnings of the Dementor continue to be unknown but it's probably connected to Ekrizdis, a Dark wizard who practiced many forms of Dark magic on Azkaban. When he passed away, the Concealment Charm placed on Azkaban faded and it became known to people. Those who would enter Azkaban in an investigation found the Dementors and decided to do nothing out of fear of what the Dementors would do if they attempted to evict them. Control by the Ministry In 1718, Damocles Rowle was elected Minister for Magic and viewed the Dementors in the sense they would be a potential asset that would benefit society if they manage to bring them under control. He invented a prison on Azkaban and promised the Dementors plenty to feed on, and made them guards of the prison, bringing them under their employ and saving time and expense. Azkaban had a zero escape success for many years, since the Dementors would feed on the emotions of those imprisoned. In between 1733 and 1747, the new Minister for Magic Eldritch Diggory was shocked at the despair the Dementors placed upon the imprisoned and proposed alternative ways to contain Azkaban and no longer employ the Dementors. However, other witches and wizards had a fear of what would happen if they deprived Dementors of their main food source, and any plan to do that would be abandoned when Eldritch passed away in office. Support for the Dementors varied - many believed they served their purpose and would be better in the employ of Ministry but others believed them to be fickle and that they would one day change their loyalty if they would be promised better feeding grounds by a Dark witch or wizard. However, even though the Dementors had a high success rate in containing prisoners, everything would change in the late 20th century. Late 20th century Searching for Sirius Black In the summer of 1993, Sirius Black proved the Dementors could be fooled when he managed to escape from Azkaban. Dementors would then be sent to patrol Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in case the framed Sirius attempted to kill Harry Potter. Unfortunately for Harry, whenever he was in proximity of the Dementors, they would feed on him due to the bad memory of James and Lily Potter's death. On 1 September, Dementors searched the train and when one opened the compartment of Harry Potter, it immediately began feeding on him, draining Harry's soul until Professor Lupin woke up and sent the Dementor away with the Patronus Charm and Harry ate a piece of chocolate which made him feel better. The Dementors patrolled by guarding every single entrance until a time when they found him. Two months later in the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, Dementors made their way on the pitch and made it very cold, silent and windy. Many Dementors had their faces pointed at Harry and made him pass out with the Dementor's Kiss. He once again heard the voice of Lily in her final moments when she confronted Voldemort. Albus Dumbledore was very angry because the Dementors should never have went on the grounds, and he sent them away with the Patronus Charm. However, one evening the Dementors failed to detect Sirius and he managed to get in the school. It was the second time he managed to get round them undetected. The Dementor was a possible Boggart form and the same rules of sending it away with the Patronus Charm worked. Lupin taught Harry the Patronus Charm with Harry's Boggart of the Dementor. Later on, Harry, Hermione and Sirius made their way to the lake when running away from Lupin. When they made it, Dementors senses them and swept down on them. Harry and Hermione would not be able to think of a happy thought powerful enough to produce the Patronus Charm and the Dementors began delivering the Dementor's Kiss on both of them and Sirius until an unknown person, later found to be a time-travelling Harry, saved them from another part of the lake with the Patronus Charm. In the process, Sirius was finally taken prisoner again and the plan was by orders of Cornelius Fudge, for the Dementor Kiss to claim Sirius's soul and life. Harry and Hermione then saved him with Buckbeak by time Macnair came back with the Dementors. Fudge then made the order for the Dementors to be taken away, because they made the Dementor's Kiss on an innocent child. Sirius later wrote saying he was certain the Dementors continued looking for him, but they would never manage to find him. Second Wizarding War By the summer of 1994, the Dementors would be fooled a second time when Barty Crouch Jr. managed to escape Azkaban with the help of Barty Crouch Sr. and a dying Mrs Crouch, who took the place of Barty with the Polyjuice Potion. In June 1995, Barty was eventually found and the Dementor's Kiss was made on him and left an empty shell. He eventually passed away. By then, times had changed and Voldemort had come back (but Fudge and many others would not accept that, since only Harry had actually saw him). Umbridge would send two Dementors over to Little Whinging in order to subdue Harry, and the Dementors attacked Harry and Muggle Dudley Dursley. Harry saved them both with the Patronus Charm, but Dudley became a changed person because he had saw who he truly was - a bully. Squib Arabella Figg had also felt the affect of the Dementors, but neither she or Dudley could actually see them. When she went to court in defence of Harry for using underaged magic that day, Fudge used the fact that she could not see them in order to claim that Harry had made it up, since he was determined that the Dementors would never act on anyone's orders other than the Ministry (Fudge had no idea that Umbridge had in fact, given them the order). In the summer of 1996, the Dementors of Azkaban went missing when Voldemort took over, and they left a fog in their wake. In fact, the Dementors had allied with Voldemort and the Death Eaters because they let them feed on their victims, which proved to be a better food source than they would find at Azkaban. The Ministry of Magic was put to shame over their disappearance and attempted to explain it away. When Voldemort took over the Ministry in the summer of 1997, Umbridge made the Dementors guards of the Muggle-borns brought in for a trial determining that they had "taken" their magic from "proper" witches and wizards. She protected the judges from the Dementors above them with the Patronus Charm. Harry, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger showed up at the trial of Mary Cattermole in order to take an object from Umbridge, and she let the Dementors loose. Harry saved them with the Patronus Charm. In about March or April 1998, Harry was taken prisoner by Death Eaters who wanted to use the Dementors and give Harry the Dementor's Kiss, in order to weaken him by the time they took him to Voldemort, but Harry managed to escape. In May 1998, the Dementors fought for Voldemort at the Battle of Hogwarts, but fortunately many of the pupils had learned the Patronus Charm and managed to keep them back. Later history Following the Second Wizarding War in which the Dementors fought on the losing side, the new Minister for Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt decided they would no longer employ them at Azkaban. Azkaban was "purged" of the Dementors and Aurors became the new alternative guards. It's unknown what actually happened to the Dementors. Defences from Dementors * Chocolate was a kind of sweet that would help people who survived the Dementor's Kiss feel better immediately following the event. It had a short-term effect and the victim would need determination in order to continue to heal, but it done the job of helping the survivor find their feet again. * The Patronus Charm was perhaps the best form of defence one may have when faced with the Dementors. The very powerful defence charm was born out of complete happiness and hope, and produces a magical protector of white light in the form of an animal, which completely shields the witch or wizard when they manage to produce a corporal Patronus capable of sending many Dementors away. However, an incorporal Patronus will only produce a white shine and will give only limited protection. Behind the scenes Notes and sources Category:Amortals